Commons
Statutory Instrument
9 March 2026
Delegated Legislation Committee
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship again, Sir Desmond. The Minister will be aware that we have some concerns about part of the UK-India agreement, but those concerns do not apply to the provisions on public procurement, and as such we support the measures in the regulations.
In effec…
Commons
Proceedings
5 March 2026
Business of the House
For many of my constituents, a daily postal delivery is a fiction, with post sometimes taking weeks to arrive. That includes letters about hospital appointments and other important appointments, which often arrive after the appointments have happened. Can we have a debate in Government time on the p…
Commons
Oral Questions
5 March 2026
2 contributions
EU: Mutual Interests
After at least 15 major U-turns, it is helpful to check which promises the Government still intend to keep. On 22 July 2024, when I asked the Prime Minister whether he could promise that he would not accept the automatic application of EU rules unless they had been specifically approved by this Parl…
The Minister knows very well that the choice was that of the biggest democratic exercise in UK history. His party promised to respect the result of that referendum but is instead seeking to row back on it. Members of the House and the wider public will have heard that the Minister clearly did not ru…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
3 March 2026
Spring Forecast
The Chancellor claimed to be cutting debt, but she will know that paragraph 5.9 of the OBR’s “Economic and fiscal outlook” says that
“Public sector net borrowing is forecast to increase”
public sector net debt
“in each year, by an average of £92 billion”.
To avoid misleading the House, will she …
Commons
Westminster Hall
2 March 2026
2 contributions
Public Right to a Vote of No Confidence
I, too, thank the more than 120,000 people across the United Kingdom who signed the petition. I join my hon. Friend the Member for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk (John Lamont) in acknowledging the many organisations that have engaged constructively on this issue, many of which have already been …
To be clear, can the Minister confirm that the Government will not be spending 2.5% on defence this year?
Commons
Ministerial Statement
25 February 2026
Post Office Green Paper
Kingswinford is the largest town centre in my constituency, but it has been without a post office since the Midcounties Co-operative closed the store in which the post office was located. That loss has become even more significant since Lloyds bank announced this month that it was closing the only b…
Commons
Westminster Hall
24 February 2026
4 contributions
EU Membership Referendum: Impact on the UK
More than seven in 10 voters in my constituency voted to leave. That was not an accident, it was not confusion, and it was not because they were lied to.
Having spent seven happy years working in the European Parliament, I was not unfamiliar with the EU’s strengths, as well as its faults, but if th…
No, I only have five minutes.
For that £90 billion to be credible, one would have to imagine that we would have vastly exceeded the growth of every large European country if only we had stuck to what we were already doing, closer to the framework that those countries with lower growth are still in.
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
23 February 2026
Lord Mandelson: Government Response to Humble Address
I thank the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister for the statement, which we received at 3.38 pm. I gently suggest to him that the 45 minutes referred to in the ministerial code is a minimum, rather than a target.
On 4 February, this House voted, cross party, for a Humble Address to be presented. …
Commons
Westminster Hall
4 February 2026
8 contributions
Civil Service Pension Scheme: Administration
I congratulate the hon. Member for Blackpool North and Fleetwood (Lorraine Beavers) on securing this important and timely debate. The situation is an entirely unforced error by Capita, and it has caused real and significant financial distress to thousands of former public servants—people who dedicat…
I am sure that the hon. Lady will accept that because I was not a Minister in the previous Government, I did not have access to the tendering process, and do not have the details of the bid. However, there was a clear failure by the previous providers and there have been many opportunities since the…
+6 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
26 January 2026
Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill
The Minister did not answer the question that the shadow Foreign Secretary asked, but it is inconceivable that Foreign Office Ministers will not have had discussions with their American counterparts about this issue over the last week. Can the Minister tell us whether it is still the Government’s po…
Commons
Oral Questions
Cabinet Office
22 January 2026
2 contributions
Erasmus+ Programme
In his statement last month, the Paymaster General promised us that he had secured a great deal for the first year of the Erasmus programme. It is a technique that will be familiar to mobile phone and satellite TV customers around the country. Can the Minister tell us what the Paymaster General coul…
I think the Minister has given the game away: he has just said that it would be wrong to walk away from that. He will know, as the whole House knows, that any negotiation is successful only if you know, and more importantly your negotiating partners know, that there is an alternative to a negotiated…
Commons
Proceedings
19 January 2026
Business Rates: Retail, Hospitality and Leisure
The tables to which the Minister refers show that the median rateable value for pubs and wine bars is increasing by a third. He visited the Prince of Wales, a pub in his constituency, to help it reopen last spring. Its rateable value is going up from £49,200 to £62,500, which will push it into the h…
Commons
Proceedings
15 January 2026
3 contributions
Digital ID
(Urgent Question): To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement on mandatory digital ID.
The Minister read his speech beautifully, and with a straight face. In September, the Prime Minister tossed this mandatory digital ID on to the table as a classic dead cat distraction, purely to keep Andy Burnham off the front pages as the Labour party conference started. Now it is left to a junior …
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
14 January 2026
West Midlands Police
I am proud that my father was a West Midlands police constable for 29 years, policing football matches during some of the darkest days of English football, but the Home Secretary is clearly right that there has been a failure in the leadership of West Midlands police over recent months. The Prime Mi…
Commons
Debate
13 January 2026
4 contributions
Finance (No. 2) Bill
The Minister rightly refers to draught beer and cider relief, and she said earlier that her concern about freezing alcohol duties was that most of the benefit would be going to supermarkets and other places that sell beer cheaply. Surely she recognises that what the Chancellor should have done is re…
It is a genuine pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Burton and Uttoxeter (Jacob Collier), who made some excellent points. Before I begin, I will disclose that although I do not have any relevant interests to the debate in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, I have received hospitality b…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Proceedings
13 January 2026
Storm Goretti
I join the Minister in thanking the emergency services, local authority and Environment Agency staff and volunteers, who have worked tirelessly to recover from the storm and to keep the public safe. I also join him in sending our condolences to those families who are grieving and whose lives have be…
Commons
Debate
12 January 2026
2 contributions
Finance (No. 2) Bill
The Minister says that pensioners who only receive the new state pension will not have to pay income tax. Can he say whether pensioners paid the old basic state pension, but who were contracted out and have alternative provision that brings them up to the same level as the new state pension, will ha…
Will the hon. Lady give way?
Commons
Debate
7 January 2026
Rural Communities
claimed to move the closure (Standing Order No. 36).
Question put forthwith, That the Question be now put.
Question agreed to.
Question put accordingly (Standing Order No. 31(2)), That the original words stand part of the Question.
Commons
Oral Questions
Northern Ireland
7 January 2026
Public Services
Happy new year, Mr Speaker.
Policing numbers in Northern Ireland are at their lowest ever level. Both the Police Service of Northern Ireland and Policy Exchange have warned that reopening cases from the troubles will place a huge additional financial burden on the police, which would mean risks for…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
17 December 2025
UK-EU Common Understanding Negotiations
We on the Opposition side of the House recognise the importance of giving young people educational opportunities, but it is vital— [ Interruption. ] Government Members clearly do not recognise the need for schemes to offer genuine value for money. The UK already had the opportunity to remain a membe…
Commons
Proceedings
11 December 2025
US National Security Strategy
The US strategy makes it even more important that the UK remains a cornerstone of European and global defence. With threats to us and our allies only growing, the Conservative party is clear that it would hit 3% of GDP on defence spending by the end of this Parliament. As it is abundantly clear that…
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
11 December 2025
Topical Questions
T4. The Minister knows the Westgate pub in her constituency well. It has seen its rateable value go up from £10,500 to £20,000, which means a rates rise of £2,400 once the temporary transitional relief expires. We know that Harrods is getting a £1 million business rate cut, so will the pubs and hosp…
Commons
Oral Questions
Cabinet Office
4 December 2025
2 contributions
Digital ID Scheme
In October, the Prime Minister called a Downing Street press conference rather than come to this House so that he could tell the nation that digital ID will not be mandatory; it is just that people will not be able to get a job without one. What else will they not be able to do without this apparent…
The Minister’s answer makes it clear that this announcement was not a policy—it was a late party conference stunt. The Government obviously have not thought it through; it is clear that the Prime Minister lacks the backbone to push back against officials who have taken this awful idea off the shelf …